Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: The King’s-Evil and sensory experience in Richard Wiseman’s Severall Chirurgicall Treatises

  • Early accounts of meningitis

    JMS PearceHull, England Few illnesses convey more fear of a swift, fatal outcome than does meningitis. Cerebrospinal meningitis was once known as spotted fever, cerebrospinal fever, typhus cerebralis, or meningitis epidemica. In Greek meninx, or in Latin meningeus, is a membrane. In English literature, meninges appeared in 1543:… Read more

  • TB or not to be?

    Bhaumik KamdarMumbai, India Every time I sneeze, I am distrustedWith every bout of cough, everyone is disgustedI am subjected to exclusion, and otherizationEverything is nothing but societal authorization Thanks to Mycobacterium that has invaded meSociety has secluded meI am nothing but a name in the… Read more

  • Two medical pioneers named Whipple

    Two medical pioneers, both sharing the surname Whipple but not related to one another and working in distinct fields of medicine, made a lasting impact on the treatment of two diseases that in their time were universally fatal. Dr. George Hoyt Whipple (1878–1976) was a… Read more

  • Lillian Wald (1867–1940): Pioneer patient advocate and public health nurse

    Barbara ShawChicago, Illinois, United States “Reform can be accomplished when attitudes are changed.”1—Lillian Wald In the teeming tenements of New York City’s Lower East Side in the 1890s, Lillian Wald, a young nurse, came to the aid of a young immigrant girl whose mother was… Read more

  • Alice Fisher: A Nightingale in Philadelphia

    Karen EgenesCentennial, Colorado, United States In 1883, the board of the Guardians of the Poor, the administrators of the Philadelphia almshouse, faced a dilemma. The institution, founded in 1732 and often referred to as “Old Blockley,” was a combination of an almshouse for paupers, workhouse… Read more

  • Omugwo: A celebration of motherhood

    Rita Oghenero OmueroChicago, Illinois, United States In the days leading up to her due date, I called my sister, Chioma.“Sister, how far?” I greeted her in our usual way.“I dey o!” she responded. I could hear the fatigue in her voice.“When did the doctor say… Read more

  • Seminal contributions from chiefs of surgery at the University of Illinois

    Jayant RadhakrishnanAnthony Chin Chicago, Illinois, United States In May of 1881, Drs. Charles Warrington Earle and Abraham Reeves Jackson conceived of a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago (P&S). A core group of physicians immediately procured the necessary licenses and certificates and purchased a lot… Read more

  • Fibromuscular dysplasia

    Victoria TillerGlenview, Illinois, United States Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a disorder of the arteries, most often affecting the carotid, vertebral, and renal arteries. The interior arterial lining grows abnormally to create intermittent narrowing within the vessel, resulting in “arterial beading” or a “string of beads”… Read more

  • Clausoque stomacho: An unrecognized factor in the death of the Elder Pliny

    Andrew WilliamsRobert ArnottUnited Kingdom The Elder Pliny (c. AD 23/24–79) was a naturalist and naval commander in the Roman Principate. In addition to his civic and military duties, he spent much of his time investigating, studying, and writing on nature and geography, which he published… Read more

  • A personal memory of Davy Smyth Torrens

    John Brock-UtneStanford, California, United States Davy Torrens was born in Northern Ireland in 1897 near Coleraine. His parents were farmers of Scottish stock. From the age of ten, he was seen to be a wizard in fixing all the wall clocks in the surrounding areas.… Read more

  • John Snow

    JMS PearceHull, England John Snow (1813–1858) (Fig 1) was a pioneer of modern epidemiology who almost eradicated cholera from London when, before bacteria were discovered, he showed that cholera was a waterborne infection. His vital part in ether and chloroform anesthesia is often forgotten. And,… Read more

  • Boredom in hospitalized patients

    Aditi MahajanSana RahmanWashington D.C., United States On my medical school psychiatry rotation, we were asked to see a patient who had many medical problems. After rounding on him for a week, we realized that he was suffering from sheer boredom. He was in a foreign… Read more